FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

We get a lot of questions about Sentinels of the Multiverse! We're happy to hear from you, but please check here first. It's likely your question has already been asked and answered. If you don't see an answer to your question below and still need to contact us directly, you can do so here.

General

I bought Sentinels of the Multiverse for Steam (or iOS, or Android) Do I get it for iOS (or Steam or Android)?

A purchase of Sentinels is good on the store where you made your purchase and does not transfer to other stores. It would be best to decide where you want to play Sentinels and plan your purchase accordingly. For instance, a purchase on Steam allows you to play on Windows, Mac, and SteamOS/Linux computers signed in with your Steam account. A purchase for iOS allows you to play on any iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch linked to your Apple account.

How about the DLC?

See above.

Can I download the game on another device or system of the same kind once I’ve purchased it?

If you have purchased Sentinels of the Multiverse for your iOS device (iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch), you are able to download the game at no additional cost on another iOS device so long as the new device is logged in to the same account where the original purchase was made. The same goes for Android devices (phone or tablet) and for Steam (desktop or laptop).

Please note that DLC cannot be shared across devices when using iOS App Store Family Sharing or Android Family Library, only the core game. These are Apple and Android's policies, which are not in our control. If you wish to share DLC you have purchased across devices in your household, you will have to sign in and download them without using Family Sharing/Family Library.

Sharing purchases does not work across different platforms, such as trying to download the same purchase on an iPhone and an Android phone. Only iOS to iOS or Android to Android, etc.

But Star Realms (or Small World)…

We understand that there are a couple of games out there that that let you pay once and play anywhere. However, these games are the exception in video games, rather than the rule. Almost every for-pay video game in history and at present works the way Sentinels of the Multiverse works. Just imagine walking into GameStop with your Xbox One copy of Call of Duty and asking for PS4 version for free.

Porting a game to more platforms costs a significant amount of money, development time, and dedicated testing & support staff -- each one really is a separate product. In order to support a “pay once, play anywhere” model, additional significant investment in server infrastructure and code is required. We have not been made aware of the financial model that Star Realms is using, and if they can be profitable with such a model, that’s awesome for them!

At Handelabra Games, we cannot afford to give our products away for free and we don’t believe that we should. We are a small team, and while we’re thrilled with how well Sentinels is currently selling, it is not a AAA title with millions in marketing and development budget. We are proud to make a quality product, we charge a fair price and every single sale counts.

When are the expansion packs coming out? What is in them?

Handelabra Games is committed to releasing products when we believe they are ready, not to hit a pre-determined release date. We do not announce specific release dates until we are reasonably sure we will ship on a given date.

Season 1:

Mini-Pack 1 was released on February 6th, 2015 and includes Unity, Ambuscade and Silver Gulch.

Rook City was released on April 14th, 2015 and includes Expatriette, Mr. Fixer, Spite, Plague Rat, The Chairman, The Matriarch, Rook City and Pike Industrial Complex.

Infernal Relics was released on July 6th, 2015 and includes NightMist, The Argent Adept, Akash'bhuta, Apostate, The Ennead, GloomWeaver, Tomb of Anubis and Realm of Discord.

Mini-Pack 2 was released on November 20th, 2015 and includes The Scholar, Miss Information, and The Final Wasteland.

Shattered Timelines was released on January 27th, 2016 and includes Omnitron-X, Chrono-Ranger, The Dreamer, Kismet, La Capitán, Iron Legacy, Time Cataclysm and The Block.

Wrath of the Cosmos was released on April 13th, 2016 and includes Captain Cosmic, Sky-Scraper, Deadline, Infinitor, Kaargra Warfang, Progeny, Dok'Thorath Capital, and The Enclave of the Endlings.

Mini-Pack 3 was released on June 8th, 2016 and includes Guise, Wager Master, and Omnitron-IV.

Season 2 will cover the remaining expansions and will be released in the following order:

Season Pass 2 (featuring the Preview Pack) was released on September 21st, 2016 and includes Setback, Chokepoint and The Temple of Zhu Long.

Vengeance was released on December 16th, 2016 and includes Setback, Parse, The Naturalist, K.N.Y.F.E, The Sentinels, Mobile Defense Platform and Freedom Tower, as well as team villains Baron Blade, Ermine, Friction, Fright Train and Proletariat.

Villains of the Multiverse was released on June 22nd, 2017 and includes Ambuscade, Citizens Hammer and Anvil, The Operative, La Capitan, Bugbear, Biomancer, Greazer, Sergeant Steel, Plague Rat, Miss Information, The Court of Blood, Magmaria, The Temple of Zhu Long, and Madam Mitermeier's Fantastical Festival of Conundrums and Curiosities.

Mini-Pack 4 was released on July 23rd, 2018 and includes Benchmark, Stuntman, Chokepoint, and The Celestial Tribunal.

Void Guard was released October 16th, 2018 and includes Idealist, Mainstay, Writhe, and Dr. Medico.

OblivAeon will include five heroes, four environments, and the OblivAeon event - a special ultimate challenge game mode.

I received a DLC promo code in the box of my tabletop version of Sentinels (or from an expansion of it), but I don’t see a way to add the code to my mobile app?

Unfortunately, the promotional codes are for Steam only, since mobile doesn't offer us a way to make DLC codes like we are able to for Steam. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

I love the music… is there a way to purchase it?

Yes! You can find the Sentinels of the Multiverse music on iTunes and our online store. Also, if you visit our booth at a convention like PAX or Gen Con, we sell con exclusive, collectable soundtrack CDs.

When is feature X coming out?

If you are curious to know about upcoming features, we recommend following us on your favorite social media like Facebook or Twitter, or watching our Live Streams on Twitch.tv or YouTube. If you ask us about a specific feature, we will likely respond with the same list of things to follow.

How do I unlock variant (promo) cards?

Variant heroes and villains are unlocked by accomplishing secret storyline-based challenges. You can come across them during normal play by exploring different play styles, or by actively seeking them out. Whenever new variants have been made available, the fan community has come together to discover the unlock conditions in a collaborative effort. We encourage you to join in the fun on our forums, the GTG forums, Steam community, or anywhere else!

Approximately 30 days after a Variant become available, or once the official unlock condition has been discovered (whichever happens first), we make it freely unlockable using a button. Press the Variants banner on a card, then the lock icon, and you will be able to unlock the variant without accomplishing the challenge. The challenge and associated achievement will still be available, so if you do perform it later, you'll get the unlock screen then. If you are stuck and want to find out the unlock conditions for a variant, visit the Variant Files page and take a look.

Can I play online with my friend on another platform?

Yes! Sentinels has a fully cross-platform online multiplayer system. You can play with any mix of Steam, iOS, and Android players online.

How do DLC expansion packs work in online multiplayer?

In Sentinels multiplayer, expansion packs work like map packs in other online games. Each game has a list of expansions that are required to join it, and the players in the game can choose from content in those expansions. If your friend is missing an expansion and you want to play with them, you can create a custom game and disable that expansion. Or they can create the game and you can join.

My DLC isn’t showing up!

The first thing to check is whether you’ve disabled the expansion packs using the Decks button in the New Game screen. It can be easy to forget!

If you’re on iOS or Android, open the Get Expansion Packs screen and make sure you’ve downloaded the DLC pack.

On Steam, there is an issue with Steam itself where this can occur. Quitting and restarting Steam fixes the problem in most cases. You can also try these steps:

Restart your computer.

Right click the game in Steam, click Properties, click Local Files, then click Verify Integrity of Game Cache.

I found a bug!

If the bug you’ve uncovered is not listed among the known issues or FAQ you should definitely report it, following good bug reporting etiquette. What does that mean? Any good bug report should include the following:

The behavior you expected to see

The behavior you actually saw

Steps to reproduce the error. If we can’t reproduce the error here, we can’t fix it!

The platform & version of the game you’re playing

Screenshots showing what happened and the state of the game

You can report a problem or make a suggestion from in-game in the Credits screen using the Feedback button, which will send us an email with some technical details automatically filled in. Or, use our feedback form here.

Please do not send a message with multiple bugs as it makes it difficult for us to track the issue. Send individual messages for each problem to make it easier for us to improve the game you love. Likewise, please do not reply to our emails with different new bugs you’ve found for the same reason. Sending a new message will help us keep track of the different bugs.

The game is crashing! I have an old device and it’s slow!

The game may be crashing due to memory pressure on your device. We're working on improving the memory pressure issues in future updates. In the meantime, you can try the following steps that have worked well for others:

Turn off the page flip animation setting in the options.

Turn off the environment backgrounds and/or character portraits in the options.

Turn off the animated foil effects in the options.

Restart your device to clear the memory.

Can I sync achievements and variants across devices?

Achievements are automatically synced based on the platform & game service you’re using. Your Game Center achievements will sync between your iOS devices, your Steam achievements will sync between your computers, and so on. Variant unlocks are tied to the achievements so they will be unlocked on your other devices when you start the game and it detects the achievements. On Steam & Android the sync between variants & achievements happens automatically. On iOS, open the Options menu, select Gameplay, then Sync Variants & Achievements to perform the sync.

Can I sync save games and my Weekly One-Shot covers across devices?

We support Steam Cloud Saves for save games and Weekly One-Shot covers. This feature is not yet supported by the game on iOS, Google Play, or Amazon Appstore (each of which have their own syncing system).

Can I request a refund from Handelabra Games?

Refunds must be dealt with through the store they were purchased from, as we have no control over their return policies and procedures. Meaning, purchases made through Amazon, Apple, Google Play, and Steam MUST go through them. For purchases made through our Handelabra.com online store, please contact us.

See each of their help sections below for more information about their refund policies.

What is your streaming/"let’s play" policy for your games?

Handelabra Games believes in creating community. As such, we encourage you to stream, share, “Let’s Play”, etc. All we ask is that you let us know where you are streaming or posting your videos… so we can share them too!

You are also free to monetize your videos of Handelabra’s games. We believe we have taken the necessary steps to make sure you won’t get any copyright notices from the various streaming sites but if you do, please contact us so we can help get them removed.

From time to time, we publish clarifications and rulings from our discussions with Christopher Badell (the designer of Sentinels).

Why is the game asking me which card should take effect first?

In Sentinels of the Multiverse, nothing happens simultaneously. Anything that seems to happen at the same time must actually be done in an order, and the player is in charge of deciding the order (exception: start of turn and end of turn effects are always processed in the order that the cards entered play).

In the video game, there are basically three things that can happen in these situations:

The game knows that the order doesn’t matter, and chooses an order for you arbitrarily.

The game knows that it the order could matter, and asks you for the order.

The game cannot tell whether it will matter, and asks you for the order.

As we continue to work on the game and make improvements, we’re reducing the third category to a smaller and smaller set of situations. It’s a large task however, and we feel it’s important to err on the side of allowing the player to have control over the outcome.

The canonical example of ordering effects is Legacy’s Superhuman Durability combined with Fortitude. Suppose 5 damage is dealt to Legacy by Blade Battalion and there are no other effects in play. There are two possible outcomes, which you can determine by choosing the order that Fortitude and Superhuman Durability take effect.

Superhuman Durability first: The damage is reduced to 2, then the damage is reduced to 1 by Fortitude. Legacy loses 1 HP.

But wait! Why doesn’t the game just automatically choose the order that makes Legacy lose the fewest HP? Isn’t that always what you want?

Certainly, most of the time it’s what you want. But notalways. Perhaps it’s important that Legacy takes a certain amount of damage, so that he’s the target with the lowest (or not the highest) HP. Perhaps you’re targeting him with Fanatic to keep Zealous Offense active, and you need to do more damage. We can’t predict the strategies that you’re going to use, and so we need to make sure you always have control over the outcome.

Why am I being asked the order to deal damage when it’s the same amount to every target?

As before, nothing happens simultaneously. Each target is dealt damage in order, even if the order doesn’t matter. A “choose for me” button is provided for you to use in these situations, and will select the targets in an arbitrary order. However, you are given control of the situation because there are times where it means the difference between victory and defeat. You can find a basic example of this right in the game’s tutorial.

Why am I being asked the order to destroy cards?

We realize this is a bit of a broken record by now, but we’ll say it again: because it can matter. In this case, there is really no way for the video game to know whether the order will matter, because it can have a long-term impact on the game. In Sentinels of the Multiverse, the order of the trash can be important, and the order you destroy cards determines the order they go into the trash. This will come into play more as more expansion decks that affect the trash are added, but we already have some examples: Forced Deployment (Grand Warlord Voss) and Lost in the Past (Silver Gulch, 1883).

There seem to be too many cards in play, where did they come from? How did Omnitron destroy an environment card under Savage Mana?

This sort of thing comes up when there are cards underneath other cards. For example, if Self-Destruct Sequence is in play and you can destroy an environment card, you’ll see the cards underneath it as options. You can tell which cards are under Self-Destruct Sequence because they will have that card tucked behind them.

Cards underneath other cards act a little bit strangely.

They are considered “in play” unless the card above them says otherwise.

They have no title, HP, keywords, or other game text.

They still belong to their deck.

The easiest way to think about it is that they are face down, and the only thing you know about them is the deck back. Thus, a card under Self-Destruct Sequence is still an environment card. And a card under Omni-Cannon is still a hero card belonging to Bunker.

Savage Mana is an interesting case because it can have all kinds of cards underneath it. But they still retain their deck back, and are still “in play.” So a card like Omnitron’s Terraforming can still destroy environment cards under Savage Mana! And Freedom Six Tempest can destroy his cards even when they are under La Capitán.

Final note: be careful when destroying cards underneath Self-Destruct Sequence! If you destroy them all, you lose the game immediately. That would be embarrassing.

A target is getting dealt damage, but it’s at negative HP. Shouldn’t it be destroyed? What’s going on?

This situation can occur with cards from Ambuscade, Unity, & Silver Gulch, 1883 (and certainly with more decks in the future). The short answer is that targets remain in play during their own destruction. If there’s an effect that happens when a target is destroyed (whether itself, or some other card), and damage gets dealt, that target may still be a valid selection for damage dealing.

Explosives Wagon is a great example. When it is destroyed, it deals all targets damage. During its own destruction, it is still a target, so it must also damage itself. Furthermore, its damage increasing effect remains active during its destruction.

Why does this matter? Most of the time, it doesn’t. But as we’ve seen already, there are times when it can matter a great deal. For example, suppose Absolute Zero destroyed Explosives Wagon. He is happy to take the fire damage with Isothermic Transducer in play, and can deal cold damage back to the currently-being-destroyed Explosives Wagon. Now he’s done even more cold damage to power up his Thermal Shockwave!

Note that the above situations only really come up when a target is destroyed and there’s a “when this/that card is destroyed” effect in play. Once a target is going to be destroyed it cannot be “undestroyed” by gaining HP back above zero. When a hero character card would be destroyed, it is flipped instead and the other hero cards are immediately removed from play, so it cannot take advantage of any such effects. So be careful with that Thermal Shockwave.

A card asked to play the top card of the villain deck for some effect, and it did, but then the effect didn't happen. What gives?

A few cards like Good Samaritan and Twisting Back Alleys give you the option to play the top card of a deck in order to do something. These cards require that the top card of the deck is actually played. If something is preventing the deck from playing cards, it won't work. If some other effect causes the top card to not be played, it won't work.

A common example involves Spite: Agent of Gloom, Good Samaritan, and Lab Raid. At the start of the Environment turn, Good Samaritan allows the players to choose to play the top card of the Villain deck. Suppose the top card of the deck is Lab Raid. According to Spite: Agent of Gloom's card, whenever a Lab Raid would be played, instead it is discarded and Spite deals each hero target 2 melee damage. So the top card was not actually played, and the Good Samaritan does not go under the Safe House.

Another example involves Twisting Back Alleys. If you've played Take Down, Mistbound, or have otherwise prevented the villain or environment deck from playing cards, then you will not be able to destroy Twisting Back Alleys using its end of turn condition. It can also interact with Spite: Agent of Gloom and Lab Raid in a similar way.

Two villain cards are getting a nemesis damage bonus against one another. Is that right?

When two cards with the same nemesis icon are in play, all damage they do to each other is increased by 1. It does not matter whether the two cards are both villain cards, both hero cards, or anything else. That means, in particular:

The Chairman and The Operative get nemesis bonus damage against one another

The members of The Ennead get nemesis bonus damage against each other

Most of the time you don't see it happen, because villain cards don't usually deal damage to villain targets. But if damage is redirected, the source of the damage remains the same, and so a nemesis bonus can apply. For example, you can use NightMist's Amulet of the Elder Gods to redirect damage from The Operative to The Chairman (with a nemesis bonus). It's actually a great strategy, because The Chairman will then hit The Operative back (with a nemesis bonus).

Note: a card dealing damage to itself does not get a nemesis bonus.

My hero only has two ongoing cards in play. Why does the game think there are three cards in play?

Character cards are counted as cards in play along with ongoing, equipment, mechanical golem, and other non-one-shot hero cards. This question comes up with Miss Information's card "Explosion" in the Lab. That card says, "At the end of the villain turn, each player with 3 or more cards in play must destroy 1 of their cards." What it means in practice is that if you have 2 or more cards in play in addition to your character card, you must destroy one.

Specific Cards AND Decks

The behavior of Sub-Zero Atmosphere can have several consequences that you may not have considered. It affects all villain cards, including the villain character cards. Here are some situations you might encounter that are unusual, but work correctly.

Playing Sub-Zero Atmosphere against Omnitron can be quite dangerous. On Omnitron’s character card, it plays a card at the end of the villain turn (from the trash on one side, from the deck on the other). With Sub-Zero Atmosphere in play, that happens at the start of the villain turn instead. Any end of turn or start of turn effects on the played card will happen immediately, since it’s still the start of the villain turn. This can result in Omnitron playing components that deal damage immediately, or an Electro-Pulse Explosive dealing damage immediately.

Grand Warlord Voss is another opponent where any Sub-Zero Atmosphere usage must be considered carefully. On Advanced, he plays a card at the end of the villain turn. This can result in situations like Forced Deployment being played, being immediately destroyed, putting a lot of minions into play, who all deal damage immediately due to Sub-Zero Atmosphere. Even worse, the TCF Conquerer destroys a hero ongoing card at the start of the villain turn. If that card is Sub-Zero Atmosphere, then any end of turn effects that already happened at the start of the villain turn will happen again at the end of the villain turn.

Similarly, on Citizen Dawn's flip side she plays a card at the end of the villain turn. With Sub-Zero Atmosphere in play.. you get the idea!

Why did Citizen Dawn flip back when she didn’t have enough Citizens in play?

Citizen Dawn herself is a Citizen and counts for that check. So at the start of the villain turn, she will flip back if there are H - 2 other Citizens in play.

Why didn’t she flip back when there were enough in play?

On Advanced, the check is increased to H + 1 Citizens (including Citizen Dawn). Also, she only checks at the start of the villain turn. Sometimes you need to suffer through an additional round of Merged with the Power of the Sun before she will flip back.

I destroyed Omnitron but the game didn’t end! What gives?

On Omnitron’s villain character card it states: “When Omnitron is destroyed, remove Omnitron’s villain character cards from play. The heroes cannot win until there are no devices in play.” Once you destroy the remaining devices, the game will end in victory. However, there’s no guarantee you’ll win, because Omnitron will still have a turn and play a card as usual. Any effect that says Omnitron itself deals damage will be ignored, but watch out for those Electro-Pulse Explosives!

Why does Dual Crowbars do more damage the second time?

The interpretation of Dual Crowbars was changed with the release of Rook City in the digital version of SotM. Dual Crowbars works somewhat like Isothermic Transducer. The final damage dealt from the first instance of damage forms the initial amount/type/irreducibility of the second instance of damage. That means you can benefit twice from damage increases.

A title card went under a villain card when I didn't expect it! It was impossible! What happened?

The short answer is usually that "Bloodsworn Judgement happened." Bloodsworn Judgement reads, in part: "Flip the top card of the title deck and put it under the villain target with the highest HP with the title effects still visible. If there are no villain targets in play, discard it." That means that any title can go under a villain target (often Kaargra Warfang herself), including titles that usually only go under heroes (like The Living Weapon or Chaos Lord). Also, on Advanced Kaargra Warfang's flip side, she gains two titles at the end of her turn: "At the end of the villain turn, the top two cards of the title deck are revealed and put under Kaargra Warfang's character card, with their effects still visible."

There are 20 or more tokens in the Hero Favor Pool, but I didn't win! The Bloodsworn got 20 tokens and I lost, but the Hero Favor Pool had more! Is Kaargra cheating?

Nobody ever said Kaargra Warfang fights fair. When Kaargra Warfang flips and becomes a target with HP, her character card reads: "The Heroes cannot win the game." It doesn't matter how many tokens there are in the Hero Favor Pool; you need to destroy Kaargra Warfang and flip her back before you can win.